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Earthea Nance's innovative study of the emergence of 'participatory sanitation' artfully applies Bruno Latour's edict to 'follow the actors' to show how, rather than from participation, project success follows from strong 'project coalitions'. While the material content of these 'coalitions' is essential for success, the claim that they are participative is shown to be discursive rather than substantive in character. This timely illumination of the significance of not only the socio-material, but also narrative character of development, provides an important and insightful contribution to the literature. -- Stephen Healy, University of New South Wales This book is among a small number of empirical social studies of utility infrastructure conducted within an urban political ecology framework. By viewing infrastructure development as a socio-technical process, Nance is able to concisely identify and unpack constructs contributing to the success and failure of participatory sanitation projects in Brazil. Engineers and Communities Transforming Sanitation in Contemporary Brazil provides both surprising and practical insights that can help guide and evaluate a broad range of utility infrastructure development programs. -- Scott Miles, associate professor, Western Washington University, and director, Resilience Institute

Earthea Nance's innovative study of the emergence of 'participatory sanitation' artfully applies Bruno Latour's edict to 'follow the actors' to show how, rather than participation, project success follows from strong 'project coalitions'. While the material content of these 'coalitions' is essential for success, the claim that they are participative is shown to be discursive rather than substantive in character. This timely illumination of the significance of not only the socio-material, but also narrative character of development provides an important and insightful contribution to the literature. -- Stephen Healy, University of New South Wales This book is among a small number of empirical social studies of utility infrastructure conducted within an urban political ecology framework. By viewing infrastructure development as a socio-technical process, Nance is able to concisely identify and unpack constructs contributing to the success and failure of participatory sanitation projects in Brazil. Engineers and Communities Transforming Participation in Contemporary Brazil provides both surprising and practical insights that can help guide and evaluate a broad range of utility infrastructure development programs. -- Scott Miles, associate professor, Western Washington University, and director, Resilience Institute

Author Information

Earthea Nance is assistant professor in the Department of Planning and Urban Studies at the University of New Orleans. She is also a board-licensed civil engineer with over fifteen years of professional practice. Dr. Nance’s research interests are environmental hazards, urban infrastructure, and community participation in complex settings such as developing countries, vulnerable communities, high-hazard areas, and post-disaster settings. Originally from San Francisco, Dr. Nance first came to New Orleans as a Hurricane Katrina volunteer. She subsequently joined the city’s recovery office as a Ford Foundation loaned-executive to provide expertise in environmental hazard management. Dr. Nance earned an interdisciplinary PhD from Stanford University in the areas of environmental planning and management, Latin American studies, and anthropology. She holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil and environmental engineering from the University of California-Davis. She previously taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech.

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